Berwyn’s city-owned foreclosed homes ready for open market

BERWYN – The city of Berwyn will now list 16 remaining foreclosed homes owned by the city with real estate agents, instead of relying on the lottery system it established to find buyers for the homes.

The homes, renovated and move-in ready, were originally offered by lottery to allow time for potential buyers to get pre-approved, said Berwyn’s Department of Community Development attorney James Healy.

“Now that [buyers] have had the opportunity to get pre-approved, we now can shift to listing with a realtor,” Healy said. “Now it’s first come, first serve. Now we can shift to a normal sale.”

By purchasing the homes, the city was able to eliminate potential blight within its neighborhoods, according to officials.

The houses were purchased through a $3.8 million federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant distributed through the Illinois Housing Development Authority. Some of the grant money was used to rehab the properties and install energy-efficient appliances before they were to be sold to low- to moderate-income families at a reduced price.

Healy credits the lottery system for gving people the time to apply for and secure pre-approval.

“Now that we’ve accomplished these goals we believe we can now move the property quicker by listing it with real estate agents,” he said. “We always knew this was the way it was going to go.”

Healy added the city has heard from lending institutions which have indicated there are many potential home buyers that have been pre-approved for mortgages.